A flat flexible circuit conventionally includes an elongated flat flexible dielectric substrate having laterally spaced strips of conductors on one or both sides thereof. The conductors may be covered with a thin, flexible protective layer on one or both sides of the circuit. If protective layers are used, cutouts are formed therein to expose the underlying conductors at desired contact locations where the conductors are to engage the conductors of a complementary mating connecting device which may be a second flat flexible circuit, a printed circuit board or the terminals of a mating connector.
A wide variety of connectors have been designed over the years for terminating or interconnecting flat flexible circuits with complementary mating connecting devices. Major problems continue to plague such connectors, particularly in the area of cost and reliability. In particular, a male connector for a flat flexible circuit typically includes a male body member about which the flexible circuit is wrapped. The male connector is mated with a female connector, with the male body member inserted into a receptacle of the female connector. For instance, the receptacle may include a plurality of terminals for engaging the conductors of the flat flexible circuit. There continuously are problems in holding the flat flexible circuit about the male body member during mating. Any lateral deviation of the flexible circuit from its intended position will cause misalignment between the conductors of the flat circuit and the terminals of the female connector, resulting in improper or inadequate connections.
The present invention is directed to solving these problems.